The guys over at Specifiedby product directory have come up with this fantastic idea where Architects and Specifiers can tweet the @socialspec Twitter account with a specific product requirement and @socialspec will in turn ask their followers for any recommendations.Read More

So Ecobuild 2013 draws to a close and many manufacturers and other exhibitors are in the follow up or nurturing process. If you didn’t make the show or followed it on Twitter (like I did) then this may be of interest to you….

Word cloud containing the words from users bio’s who tweeted the #ecobuild hashtag.

All the rave is about commercial social sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn but since doing quite a few online competitor and mention analysis; I’ve come across some social sites, mainly forums, which I would consider absolute goldmines for information when researching mentions of your brand online.

Firstly I’ve some across many conversations about some of the biggest brands in construction that took place back in late 90’s. It’s probably safe to say these companies are not aware of them. Read More

So today I’m going to take a look where Construction News readers share articles. Over 40,000 pages from the website were scanned and a total of 4123 pages had been shared across social networking sites.Read More

Below is a table to show the most shared content from the Construction Enquirer website since it’s launch a few years ago and where stories are being shared. A total of 4229 shares had been counted from just 586 pages scanned on the Construction Enquirer website.

Predictably, the most shared content is from July probably because more Construction Enquirer readers are now on social networks than ever before and probably still growing. Only 1 story from June made the top 20 stories. The most shared story is the recent ‘No UK firms in world construction top twenty‘ which has been shared 107 times.

The ‘Contract Spy‘ page has been shared on Facebook more than it has done on Twitter or LinkedIn. Interesting?Read More

In an industry where word of mouth (and golf courses) play a huge part in how business gets done it’s interesting to see what happens AFTER the word of mouth interaction occurs. Even if you are on a golf course or at a networking event and someone recommends you, it’s important to understand what the next step is in that process or journey especially as we all have the internet right at our finger tips.

Do you know how many people Google you as a result of someone recommending you? You may or may not. Do you know how many phone calls you have had as a result of someone recommending you? You may or may not.

Here’s an example of a ‘what happens next’ once some one recommends a company on Twitter and then researches the company via Google. Read More

So you have identified the need for your company to be on Twitter and will be at an advantage over competitors if you jump onto Twitter before they do. Let’s assume you have done your homework and identified that there is a large audience, one which you want to communicate with, already on Twitter and seem to be quite active. Let’s also assume that you have taken the necessary steps to give the control of the corporate Twitter account to the right person within the business. We’re not talking about personal accounts or profiles here, we’re talking about company accounts and profiles.

Here’s the big one.

What if your key audience is most active on Twitter, and most likely to be responsive to your communication, after 7pm!Read More

I’m always stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to trying to get links included in our client online PR strategies. Trying to keep the SEO guys happy and not irritate the web editors is a juggling act – one that I’m sure many PR’s within the construction industry are struggling with at the moment too.

Essentially, all I’m after is a unique URL within a news item or feature where readers can find out more information about the story. Sometimes it’s a more in-depth blog post, or a bank of case study images; sometimes it’s a video, or even a microsite/forum hosting an industry debate. We always make certain that we create valuable content, so it’s not like we’re chasing links to homepages or sales enquiry forms. Think of it as a half-way house as the journey towards the social media news releases picks up speed.

It’s beneficial to measurement for our clients, and ultimately to the website running the coverage. For example, if we see that lots of their readers have clicked our link and watched the video or read the blog post, we will undoubtedly value the publication higher and push more editorial content their way. At the end of the day if we can measure the success of our coverage in this precise, accurate way, we’re going to prefer using these outlets in the future.Read More